The Louisiana Purchase
Subtitle: Jefferson's noble bargain?
By: James E. Lewis, Jr. ; preface by Lawrence S. Kaplan.
Series: Monticello monograph series
Publisher: Thomas Jefferson Foundation
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Charlottesville, Va
Language: eng
Number of pages: 112
Subjects: Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826.; Louisiana Purchase.
Description: "In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson charged James Monroe and Robert Livingston with the task of negotiating with the French to keep an American port open at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Authorized to spend up to $6 million to acquire as much as possible of New Orleans and Florida, Livingston and Monroe were instead stunned to be offered the entire Louisiana territory. Seizing the opportunity, the two men, as James Lewis writes in his lively analysis, "agreed to spend two-and-a-half times their budget to purchase a province that they had never been instructed to buy."" "This volume offers a thoughtful understanding of a complex moment in American history. The Louisiana Purchase later became celebrated even as it raised fundamental questions about American polity and society - questions about governance, slavery, union, and the young nation's place in the world."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-97) and index.